News

Michigan’s tourism industry is expected to see a boost in business this year.  Michigan State University tourism experts are predicting a 4% increase tourism spending this year, thanks in part to an expected increase in business travel. 

 MSU researcher Sarah Nicholls says Michigan's tourism industry will build on improving conditions seen last year.

The progress made by forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi has been halted, according to a U.S. official. CNN reports:

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's momentum has been stopped and rebels have been able to hold onto areas that Gadhafi's forces had been poised to take over, a U.S. official said Monday.

Macomb County Commissioner Phil DiMaria is angry about Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to tax pension income, and he’s doing something about it. He’s launched a statewide petition drive to oppose the tax, which is key to the governor’s proposed budget.

DiMaria, who has been on the county commission for twenty years, thinks the governor is badly out of touch. “He’s rich. He’s never going to be an old person who has to pinch pennies to try and get by, try and buy milk and bread,” he told me yesterday.

Last year state officials approved a ban on burning trash starting April 1st, 2011.  But with the date drawing near, it appears backyard burning appears safe, at least legally, for now.    

Above: Duke's Nolan Smith performs a crossover on Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr.

Macomb County executive Mark Hackel says a privately owned casino could boost business along the county's waterfront on Lake St. Clair.  The Macomb Daily reports: Mark Hackel said he plans to reach out to local communities to see who might be interested.

Its all about ringtones.     

The Associated Press reports the U.S Supreme Court won't get involved in a fight between Eminem's former production company and Universal Music Group over downloads of the rapper's songs and ringtones.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Universal Music Group. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said F.B.T. Productions LLC's contract entitled Eminem and his producers to a 50-50 split with Universal for recordings licensed to digital distributors such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

The record label had paid F.B.T. and Eminem 12 percent of sales, the agreed-upon rate for physical albums. F.B.T. discovered Eminem in 1995 before he signed in 1998 with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. Universal's Interscope Records distributes Aftermath recordings. The case is Aftermath Records v. F.B.T. Productions, LLC, 10-768.

Rick Wilson, the project manager for Heritage Sustainable Energy, is our guest this week as our “What’s Working” series continues. Based in Traverse City, Heritage Sustainable Energy is a wind power company that has been managing the installation of wind turbines in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Heritage is in the process of installing and expanding wind farms in the state, and is already producing roughly 40 megawatts of power.

Governor Rick Snyder has outlined a plan to withhold some state aid to local governments unless they make plans to consolidate services and make their finances more open. The governor says he wants to create new incentives for communities to save money and become more efficient.

He would revamp how the state shares tax revenues with cities and townships to reward those that come up with cost-savings. 

The emerald ash borer is native to eastern Russia, northern China, Japan, and Korea. It turned up in Michigan in June of 2002, most likely from wood used in packing materials in international cargo ships.

Since its arrival, the bug has led to the death of tens of millions of ash trees.

Removing these trees can be expensive and while some cities have seen the financial bite come and go, others are still feeling it.

Eric Dresden writes in the Saginaw News that the city is unsure how it will pay for the removal of hundreds of dead ash trees. From the Saginaw News:

Of the 6,000 ash trees lining the city’s streets, Simeon Martin expects thousands could be dead by the end of this year.

The cause: an emerald ash borer infestation brewing for at least nine years.

“When spring comes out, that will be the tell-tale time,” said Martin, chief foreman of the city’s streets division.

Last year, the city found 400 dead trees, and this year could be a lot worse, he said. Those trees were removed, and the city is continuing to take down infested ashes, Martin said. This year, he said, the infestation is expected to grow faster than crews can take down the trees.

Dresden reports the city has no money set aside for the removal of dead and dying trees, and when the trees are removed, no new trees are being planted because the city doesn't have the budget to maintain them.

Earlier this month, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee approved bills that ban the practice of partial-birth abortions, a practice that is already banned by federal law. The federal law was also upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007.

Supporters of SB 160 and SB 161 say a state law is necessary so local officials can assist federal authorities when enforcing the law.

These are some examples of anti-abortion bills moving in the Michigan legislature.

Louise Knott Ahern wrote about other bills being considered in today's Lansing State Journal.

Ahern writes about bills aimed at preventing insurance companies from covering abortions unless the coverage is added as a separate rider on a policy. From the LSJ:

Within two months of being sworn in, GOP legislators introduced 11 bills backed by Right to Life.

The most sweeping change would come from two bills awaiting action in the House committee on health policy.

Introduced by Rep. Jud Gilbert of Algonac, they would prohibit insurance companies from covering abortions unless a woman adds the coverage as a rider on her policy and pays for it separately from her monthly premium...

The bills don't apply to emergency abortions in which the mother's life is at risk, nor do they ban insurance coverage outright. But abortion rights advocates fear they would essentially have that effect.

Sarah Scranton of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan says "we have looked in states that already have this and we have not been able to find one insurance provider that offered a rider for abortion coverage. Women don't plan for unplanned pregnancies. These riders don't exist."

If passed, the law could also apply to insurance plans that will be created under the federal health care law.

In 2014, health care exchanges are expected to be set up under the federal health care law. These group plans will be available to people who can't afford individual private plans. Ahern writes in a "last-minute" compromise, President Obama accepted a "clause that allows states to require the separate abortion riders for insurance plans purchased through the exchanges."

UAW leaders say battle could lie ahead in contract negotiations

After giving into concessions during the auto industry's restructuring, union leaders are saying they want some things restored. From the Detroit Free Press:

As the UAW prepares to head into labor talks this summer with the newly profitable Detroit automakers, several top union leaders say a showdown is brewing over this year's contract -- especially at Ford, which has made $9.3 billion over the past two years.

"If they don't restore everything (we) gave up, the membership is going to knock it down," said Bill Johnson, plant chairman for UAW Local 900, which represents workers at the Focus plant in Wayne. "The bonuses that were just announced are just ridiculous."

Snyder to go over local government revenue sharing plan this morning

Governor Rick Snyder will go over his plan for revenue sharing with local governments at a 9:30 a.m. press conference in Grand Rapids.

His budget calls for a $100 million cut in revenue sharing with local governments, and, according to the Detroit News "would make local governments compete for the remaining $200 million, based on their adoption of "best practices" Snyder sets out today."

The Governor is expected to go over plans for local school districts as well today. From the Detroit News:

For school districts, Snyder's budget proposed a cut of about $300 per-pupil on top of an already announced $170 per-pupil cut.

Snyder told school districts in his budget message that for fiscal year 2013 he would set aside $300 million and make it "available to eligible school districts whose employees' share of health insurance costs is comparable to that of state employees."

Details on how that works are also to be announced today.

Michigan men's teams out of the tournament, women play on

The University of Michigan men's basketball team lost a close one to defending national champion Duke yesterday. Tim Hardaway Jr. pulled the team close when he hit three baskets down the stretch. Michigan was 2 points away from overtime when Darius Morris' floating jump shot in the lane missed, hitting the back of the rim. Morris said he thought the shot was going in - from the Detroit Free Press:

"I thought it was down," Morris said in the locker room, breathing heavy, trying to compose himself after postgame tears. "I thought we were going to overtime."

The University of Michigan was the last Michigan men's basketball team standing in NCAA tournament, Oakland University and Michigan State University lost close games in the opening rounds.

In the women's NCAA tournament, Michigan State University advanced by beating Northern Iowa yesterday, they'll play Green Bay tomorrow night.

Governor Rick Snyder is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 this morning in Grand Rapids where he will go over his plan for local government reforms.

Local government budgets have been squeezed ever since the housing bubble burst and revenues from local taxes have been dwindling. On top of that, revenue sharing from the state has been trimmed and Governor Snyder is proposing more potential cuts.

Crain's Detroit Business reports the Governor will go over his proposed cuts along with a $200 million incentive-based revenue sharing program:

Gov. Rick Snyder on Monday morning is slated to present his outline for local government reforms...The message has been highly anticipated. Snyder has said his goals include encouraging service sharing and best management practices in municipalities, through incentives in state revenue-sharing.

His proposed fiscal 2012 budget calls for eliminating about $300 million in statutory revenue-sharing payments for cities, villages and townships and replacing it with a $200 million incentive-based revenue-sharing program.

Even though the district has had a state-appointed emergency financial manager for two years, Detroit Public Schools still face a deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Robert Bobb, the DPS emergency financial manager, was appointed by Jennifer Granholm in March of 2009.

From the Associated Press:

Robert Bobb has spent the past two years closing dozens of schools and firing principals in an effort to fix the failing Detroit Public Schools. Yet, he still hasn't solved the problem for which he was hired — erasing a legacy budget deficit that now stands at $327 million.

Now, in his final months as the state-appointed emergency financial manager, Bobb is proposing several headline-grabbing ideas — including a radical plan to shut down so many buildings that some high schools could see more than 60 students per class — in an attempt to wipe out the red ink.

The AP reports that it's unclear how Bobb might use new powers granted to emergency financial managers under a new law signed by Governor Rick Snyder last week. They say he "continues to push the charter school plan which is the one receiving the most support in the city at the moment — even from the school board."

Detroit police officers are being told to exercise caution when it comes to social media.

Police have to follow the Department's Code of Conduct policy, which forbids officers to share transcripts, records or photos tied to an ongoing investigation, but the current police doesn't explicitly discuss sharing those items on social media.

That will soon change  after a Detroit police officer posted a crime-scene photo to his personal Facebook account last month.